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Curriculum vitae
Pavan Kumar Ph. D
Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
Cornell University
533 Tower Road
Ithaca, NY 14853 USA
fp248@cornell.edu
Educational qualifications
Doctorate in Molecular Ecology (December 2013)
Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Chemical Ecology, Jena Germany
Thesis: Revealing Manduca sexta's nicotine metabolism and its ecological consequences using plant mediated
RNAi based reverse genetics. Supervisor: Prof. Ian T. Baldwin
Master of Science (MSc) Biotechnology (April 2005)
Department of Biotechnology, Gulbarga University Gulbarga, India
Bachelor of Science (BSc) Biotechnology, Chemistry and Zoology (April 2003)
Karnataka College, Gulbarga University, Bidar, India
Research interests
Plant mediated RNAi, xenobiotic detoxification by insect pests and plant productivity.
Research experience
Post doctorate fellow
Boyce Thompson Institute for plant research, Ithaca NY USA April 2014- present
Project 1: Investigating molecular adaptation of potato plant overcompensation response to increase tuber yield
Project 2: Improving nutritional quality of potato tubers
Senior research fellow
National Center for Cell Science (NCCS) Pune, India February 2008- January 2009
Project: Role of matrix associated binding protein SMAR1 in transcriptional regulation of genes
Project assistant September
Plant Molecular Biology Unit, National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) Pune, India September 2005- January 2008
Project: Identification and characterization of plant proteinase-inhibitor insensitive lepidopteran insect Helicoverpa
armigera’s midgut proteases
Publications
1.
Difference in nicotine metabolism of two herbivores of Nicotiana attenuata renders them differentially
susceptible to a common native predator. Kumar P, Matthias Schoettner, Pandit SS, and Baldwin IT. PLoS
One 2014, 9(4), e95982.
2.
A natural history driven, plant mediated RNAi based study reveals CYP6B46’s role in a nicotine-mediated
anti-predator herbivore defense. Kumar P, Pandit SS, Steppuhn A, and Baldwin IT. Proc Natl Acad Sci
USA 2013, 111: 1245-1252.
Press coverage
http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2013/12/scienceshot-breath-so-bad-it-could-save-yourlife#disqus_thread
http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/30/toxic-halitosis-protects-tobacco-eating-caterpillar/
3.
4.
Tobacco Rattle Virus vector: A rapid and transient means of silencing Manduca sexta genes by plant
mediated RNA interference. Kumar P, Pandit SS, Baldwin IT. PLoS One 2012 7(2), e31347.
(Press: https://rybicki.wordpress.com/tag/sirna/)
Spatial and temporal expression patterns of diverse Pin-II genes in Capsicum annuum Linn. Tamhane VA,
Giri AP, Kumar P, Gupta VS. Gene. 2009, 442:1-2 (88-90
Awards
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Gold medal for BSc on 22nd annual convocation of Gulbarga University, India (2004).
R. V. Bidap higher education scholarship from Karnataka College (K.R.E.S Society) Bidar, India to pursue
master degree (2004).
Merit student fellowship during MSc from Gulbarga University, India (2005).
Rank student in MSc Biotechnology (2005).
DAAD doctoral fellowships to pursue PhD degree in Germany (2009).
Projects
MSc thesis: Identification and characterization of glutamate decarboxylase in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum .L)
var.co.740 under salt stress. Department of Biotechnology, Gulbarga University Gulbarga, India (2005).
Supervisor: Prof. G. R. Naik.
BSc Thesis: Bio processing of organic wastes, for improved quality and quantity of bio-gas production, as an
efficient source of fuel. Department of Biotechnology, Karnataka College Bidar, India (2003).
Supervisor: Dr. Vijay Kumar Biradar
Technical skills
Molecular biology:
Virus Induced Gene Silencing
Gene cloning in bacterial and yeast cells
Primer designing, PCR and qRT-PCR
Northern, Southern and Western hybridizations
Expression and purification of recombinant proteins from heterologous systems (E. coli and yeast)
Animal cell culture and transfection
Lab rearing and maintenance of lepidopteran insect cultures
Analytical chemistry:
HPLC (reverse phase and chiral), LC-MS (UPLC/ESI-TOF and Q3-MS) and GC-MS
Field work:
Studied N. attenuata- M. sexta interactions at Great Basin Desert Utah, USA (2012-13)
Scientific soft skills:
Basic bioinformatics tools for data search, retrieval and analysis
StatView, ACD labs and MS office
Language proficiency
 English (Fluent)
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Kannada (Mother tongue)
Hindi, Marathi, Telugu (Fluent)
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German (Moderate) Qualified B1 level from EURSIA institute Berlin, Germany (2009)
Oral presentations
 Plant mediated RNAi in lepidopteran insects, Karnataka College, Bidar India (February 2012)
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Probing insect response to nicotine by plant-mediated RNAi 10th IMPRS symposium Dornburg, Germany
(February 2011)
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Detoxification of diterpenoid glycosides by M. sexta at Castle Ringberg Kreuth, Germany (February 2012)
Poster presentations
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Manduca sexta larvae co-opt plant defense metabolite nicotine to deter spiders. Kumar P, Pandit S, and
Baldwin IT
12th IMPRS Symposium, MPI for Chemical Ecology Jena, Germany (April 2013).
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Plant mediated RNA interference for the reverse genetics of a native insect herbivore in the field. Pandit S,
Kumar P, Kessler D, and Baldwin IT, Scientific advisory board meeting, MPI for Chemical Ecology Jena,
Germany (October 2012).
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Manduca sexta’s nicotine metabolism is influenced by the environment. Kumar P, Pandit S, and Baldwin
IT. 11th IMPRS symposium, MPI for Chemical Ecology Dornburg, Germany (February 2012).
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Plant mediated RNA interference for insect gene silencing. Kumar P, Poosakkannu A, Pandit S, et al.
Scientific advisory board meeting, MPI for Chemical Ecology Jena, Germany (October 2010).
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Sweet poison sours caterpillar’s life. Kumar P, Pandit S, and Baldwin IT. 9th IMPRS symposium, MPI for
Chemical Ecology Dornburg, Germany (February 2010).
Conference
Poster: Identification and characterization of glutamate decarboxylase in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum .L)
var.co.740 under salt stress”. Babu G, Kumar P and Naik G R, at International conference on Plant genomics on
biotechnology: Challenges and opportunities. Indira Gandhi Agricultural University Raipur, India (October
2005).
Workshop
At MPI for Chemical Ecology Jena, Germany
 Analysis of small molecules (January 2012)
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Advanced course on analytical chemistry (February 2011)
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Life after PhD; funding gates (March 2011)
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Advanced molecular cloning (November 2011)
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Proteomic insights into plant-insect interactions. Max-Planck society-India partnership program. NCL,
Pune India (December 2006)
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Basic techniques in molecular biology and immunology at Institute of Biosciences and Molecular Biology
(IBMB) and Bangalore Genei Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, India (February 2005)